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Why employees text bosses to call in sick
More workers are ditching the traditional telephone call, and are texting their bosses instead to take a sick leave, a new survey has found. While one in six people even resorted to sending a Facebook message instead of picking up the phone to call their manager.
More workers are ditching the traditional telephone call, and are texting their bosses instead to take a sick leave, a new survey has found.
According to the survey of 10,000 people conducted by cough and cold medication Covonia, a quarter of employees admitted to sending their boss a text message rather than explaining their ailments over the phone.
While one in six people even resorted to sending a Facebook message instead of picking up the phone to call their manager.
However, the survey also found that almost three-quarters of bosses think that texting or emailing in sick is a cop-out, and 15 percent of managers said an employee calling in sick because of a cold would arouse suspicion that they are lying to get a day off.
This mistrust has led suspicious bosses to play workers at their own game, taking to social media to check on their staff, with 20 percent admitting to checking their sick employee’s Facebook page.
Some managers even admitted to calling their missing employees on a different phone number, with one in 20 even driving to their staff member’s house.
“Colds are actually more difficult to contract than people believe and there is no evidence that going to work will increase the instances in the community,” the Daily mail quoted Ron Eccles, director of the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University as saying.
“Cold sufferers are at their most contagious up to three days before exhibiting any symptoms, so by the time they are feeling unwell, the chance of catching their illness is already reduced.
“In fact, to catch a cold, close and prolonged contact to the virus is required which is why most colds are spread at home. “If you do fall ill, by proactively treating symptoms with an appropriate remedy and washing hands regularly, there is really no reason the common cold should get in the way of day-to-day responsibilities,” he added.
